Improvement in means for reefing sails



D. WEST & L. SMITH.

Improvement in Means for Reefi'ng Sails. 'No 133,072. ov.12,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT DAVID WEST AND LOUIS SMITH, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN MEANS FOR REEFING SAlLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 133,072, dated November 1'2, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID WEST and LOUIS SMITH, both of Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for 'Reefing and U'nreefing the Fore and Aft Sails of Ships and other Vessels; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, and in which- Figure'l represents a side elevation of the aft sail of a ship having our invention applied; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section, upon a larger scale, of the boom portion of the sail, with mechanism for operating the latter; Fig. 3 is a transverse section at the line a av,- and Fig. 4, a like section at the line y y.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Our invention consists in a combination, with the boom, of a revolving sleeve arranged around the boom for reefing and unreefin g the sail upon or from it. The invention also consists in novel means or combinations of means for revolving said sleeve, for checking back action, and for holding the sleeve steady at any desired point in the reefing or unreefin g of the sail. By this improvement reefin g and unreefing of fore and aft sails are greatly facilitated, in a light, compact, and effective manner.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A represents the hind mast, and B the swinging boom of a ship, carrying an aft sail, O. This sail is attached along its lower edge principally by a spirally-wound and suitable knotted or tying cord, b, to a revolving sleeve, D, arranged around the boom, and extending throughout the length of the latter, or thereabout, so that upon revolving said sleeve to the right or to the left, as the case may be, and suitably paying out or hauling on the sheets which control the raising or lowering of the sail, the latter is snugly reefed or unreefed by being wound on or oh the sleeve D. Said revolving sleeve, which is of metal, is made up of tubular sections of larger diameter than the boom which it surrounds, and united by socket-pieces c of greater thickness than the tubular sections, and forming running or bearing surfaces for the sleeve in its-rotation by causing the same to rest on and travel over or around anti-friction rollers 01, carried by splitring frames 0 arranged around and secured to the boom B at suitable distances apart, said rollers and their ring-frames preferably entering annular recesses in the boom, but so that the rollers project outside of or beyond the diameter of the boom. The inner and outer ends of the sleeve D are made thicker than the main body of it, and are constructed to form inside annular flanges, which closely but freely hug the boom. Around said inner and outer ends of the sleeve, or formed in or on them, are toothed surfaces or gears f g, the one, g, of which, at the inner end of the boom, serves as a means of rotating the sleeve D in either direction, as desired, accordingly as it is required to reef or unreef the sail, by means of a hand-lever, E, constructed in parts, or made to ship and unship, and arranged to vibrate around the boom as a center of motion,

said lever carrying pawls h "6, arranged to gear alternately, as desired, by means of a springv direction, as certain ships windlasses are now worked. This lever E is represented in Fig. 2 as occupying an upright position, for the purpose of showing it and other features or parts, but in practice it has a lateral relation with the boom. Both pawls h and 1' may be thrown into lock with the wheel 9 when it is desired to hold the sleeve D stationary; but other special provisions are made for keeping the sleeve from turning, and to prevent any back action or slip when reefing and unreefing by the rotation of the sleeve in a given direction. Thus the sleeve D is firmly heldor released from hold, as required, at the inner end of the boom, by tightening up or slackening a screw or other clamp, H, arranged to bear against the inner annular flange of the sleeve. Furthermore, independent pawls k 1, arranged to gear with the wheel or toothed disk f on opposite sides of its axis, and controlled by a spring or springs, m, operate to hold the sleeve D still and firm at the outer end of the boom. These pawls k and I also serve as stop-pawls to prevent back action or slip when rotating the sleeve to reef 0r unreef, either one of said pawls being put into action, as required, according to the direction in which the sleeve is being turned, by suitably turning from the inner end of the boom a rod, n, arranged to lie within a groove in the boom, and provided near its outer end with an arm or crutch, 0, which, accordingly as it is swung to the right or to the left by the turning of the rod it, throws either one pawl, 70 or I, out of gear with the wheel f, so as to permit of the rotation of the sleeve D in the desired direction, while the other pawl, 70 or Z, is in gear with the wheel to prevent back actlon or slip of the sleeve.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the revolving reefin g and unreefin g sleeve D with the boom B, when the same are arranged in relation with each other, as described.

2. The combination of the ring-frames c with their rollers 01, the boom B, and revolving sleeve D, the whole being arranged in relation with each other, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Witnesses MIo'HL. RYAN, FRED. HAYNES. 

